One of those at table with Jesus said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.” He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready'” (Lk 14:15-17).
The ever increasing violence, polarization, shouting over one another, delegitimizing, and dehumanizing of one another can be a heavy weight to bear. Some react by sinking into cynicism, indifference, apathy, or worse, despair and hopelessness. We need not engage in any of the above. There may have been different ways to express the same issues above, but they were present in Jesus’ time as well. Judaism was far from unified. The Sadducees, Pharisees and scribes, Samaritans, Zealots, and Essenes all felt they were the authentic expression of Israel. Jesus not only addressed this division by sitting down to break bread with as diverse a population as possible, he also shared parables around the same idea of the invitation to share in the celebration of a feast, as we read today.
Each encounter we are gifted to have with one another is an invitation to experience communion. We have the opportunity to interact with people in so many ways. We can interact in person, through text, email, skype, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, through video phones, snail mail, and a myriad of other ways. Through each exchange we can deny the invitation of communion by choosing to demean, degrade, delegitimize, gossip, or defame. We can also accept the invitation by embracing the opportunity to treat each other with dignity, to empower, to be kind, and to love.
Jesus is inviting us to fellowship with his broken Body. We are all hurting, suffering, and in pain in some form. We need to belong, to be accepted. We need each other. Each day we have a choice to make. Are we going to further perpetuate the condition of original sin, choosing our self over God and one another, or are we going to engage in being a healing agent of his wounded body?
Jesus help us to assume a posture of understanding and humility today. Help us to recognize that many people are dealing with trials and tribulations that we aren’t even aware of. When others act in any way toward us that is in any way less than kind, grant us patience. If someone is short with us, let us resist the defensive response and instead ask if there is any way we can help. If someone is talking over us, grant us the ability to breath and listen. Ultimately, help us to be present and love those we meet today, and be willing in our interaction to let God happen. “Everything is now ready!” Let us come to enjoy the feast of communion with Jesus as we interact with one another today.
Photo: Serving Thanksgiving dinner at Seton Manor, my novitiate year (about 1992) with the Franciscans. Seton Manor was one of my ministries assisting people living with HIV.
Link for today’s Mass readings:
Spiritual Stepping Stones 